The Winter Olympics Are History

The 2018 Winter Olympics came to a close last night with the closing ceremonies in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Over the two and a half weeks, my wife and I have watched at least some of the Olympic coverage almost on a nightly basis. The U.S. didn't fare as well as they have in the past, but they still represented our country well. According to E.S.P.N., The U.S. walked away with 23 medals in all, nine gold, eight silver, and six bronze. Some of the gold medals came as a surprise including Jessica Higgins winning the Women's Cross-country Team Spirit Freestyle gold medal. It was the first time the United States has ever won a gold medal in Cross-country skiing. The Men's Curling Final featured the United States versus Sweden. The men won the gold for the USA in a stunning upset. Speaking of upsets, the Women's Hockey team beat Canada in a shootout to win their first gold medal in the sport in 20 years.

Other highlights included Chloe Kim winning a gold medal for Snowboarding. I'm sure we will be seeing her for many years to come, Shaun White coming back from injury and winning the Men's Snowboarding Halfpipe gold medal. Another highlight for me was watching Lindsey Vonn winning the bronze medal in the Women's Alpine Skiing Downhill. Vonn has said these Winter Games would most likely be her final Olympic Games. You can see the full medal count for the United States on E.S.P.N.'s website.

I think the most memorable part of the Olympics for me, was just watching the sportsmanship. I was watching the Men's Bobsled when Canada tied Germany for the gold medal. The German bobsled team rushed out onto the course to congratulate and hug the Canadian team. And what I feel was the coolest part of the Olympics, was the Women's hockey team from Korea. It featured players from both North and South Korea playing together on the same team. I hope this is a step in the right direction for peace between North and South Korea. We can only hope.